Sorry to hear that Daisy.

Thank you Have been to sleep for a couple of hours!

hope that has helped you

*hugs* to DC.

Thank you...much needed and greatly appreciated!

*Sorry you didn't have a good day in Inverness, Floss*



Yes it has, thanks.

A comparatively minor 'argh!', but still... Thanks to an evil, evil (but very charming) orthodontic consultant, my teeth are so sore than I can't play my violin, just as I'd started to feel like playing again. My head feels like it's being crushed. Never mind, at least I've got a reason to put off eating for a while. On the plus side, I should be finished treatment by the end of the year.

Orthodontic treatment can be very painful

Another minor aarggh, but 'ouchy, would rather be asleep'

AAAAAARGH. Playing Scrabble against the computer, it wouldnt accept the word 'Quint' . Its an organ stop !

Just AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

Stuff at work. Started waaaaay back in like April, I think. I was basically the go-between between people requesting some work, and the people doing the work. It all went OK, the people did the work and tested it, all fine.

WEEEEEEEKS later the person who requested it came back and said it wasn't working as expected. And then it all fell apart. It was ages later, we didn't have the test data still, the requestor updated/changed her requirements, etc.

Got it all sorted. The do-er was going to correct the things that hadn't worked right, but the things with updated requirements would be dealt with later, as a separate request. The requestor sorts out a whole big huge pile of new test data to enable the re-work.

Two weeks of peace. I (rather stupidly) decided that my do-er was getting on with it. Just checked with the do-er, and she's told me nothing has been done yet. Can't work through the feedback, as the data specified in the feedback doesn't exist. I agree, and I say that yes, we just have a list of things not working which you need to fix, like we agreed. And No, say the doing group (my do-er has now got her boss to come along), we won't fix things until we know how they are not working.

So now I'm back in the middle of a Great Big Mess again. Months on, the requestor is wondering why I haven't got her stuff for her...

Still, I am crafting an email to all parties which I will send last thing this afternoon, just as I go out the door for a week. And leave it all for my manager to sort out in my absence (I am going to suggest we revert to an earlier suggestion of his. Basically, ignore all work done so far and start the whole lot over again as a new request - thus getting all work done to the updated requirements in one fell swoop!)

All cheered up now - I got in touch with the requestor (who is in the US; the do-er is in India; and I'm in between in the UK), and I apologised for the ongoing mess that was basically all my fault...

And I got a nice reply with the requestor (a) not minding having to do some extra work and (b) telling me not to apologise as it's a new process for us all and it's not like she has lots of data and is desperately waiting for the work.

So I'm all happy now

Reminds me of something a previous manager once said to me - if you mess something up, you apologise. And very very few people will react negatively towards you if you just say 'sorry, I hope we can fix this'.

Aaaaaaargh - brothers!!

I rang my mum's mobile to check if she could pick me up from the station on the way back from my recorder lesson at about 3 o clock this afternoon. My brother picked it up and said she wasn't in. So I figured, I would wait half an hour for the next train instead, by which time she might have got the message. Got into the station and the first train was just about to leave, second train is cancelled, next train in an hour. By the time i've figured out what is going on with the trains, first train has left. I rang my mum again in the hope that she might have got back, and could she please come and pick me up from the later train: she says no because she's going out, and gives me an earfull, saying i said I'd be back an hour earlier, so i point out that she wasn't in - turns out she was there the whole time, but my brother couldn't be bothered to look for her. She wasn't going to be free for at least another 2 and a half hours. I ended up waiting at the station for an hour, then having to walk over a mile from the other station into town, wait around for another hour until my mum was finished with what she was doing, then she wanted to go shopping, but WHSmiths had a power cut and we got stuck in there. In the end I finally got home at 6:30, over three hours later than I would have been if my brother had bothered to spend 10 seconds finding my mum when I first rang. AND, when I got in and yelled at him he couldn't work out what he'd done wrong!

Does anyone have something I can implant in his head?!?!

What did you have in mind - a blunt instrument? mind control device? common sense probe?

I was thinking along the lines of the blunt instrument

Suggest rolling pin, spade, clarinet - the possibilities are endless!

*takes cover from outraged clarinettists*

Men and 'arrangements' - never a good combination. Always insist on speaking with the mother/sister/girlfriend/woman standing next to him in the queue - you will get more sense out of them...

Yes yes and yes.

Having tried and failed to communicate with two male family members yesterday.

I'm being plagued by spam emails that are all requesting read receipts before you can delete them!

W

I've been getting them too lately...
very infuriating

I did have some a while ago, a whole cascade of offensive mail, no request for a receipt then, but just persistent, but thank goodness they seem to have stopped. I hope....
Hope I'm not speaking too soon

today's have been Nice Emails

Looks to be another looooooooooooooooooong day Haven't been home before midnight since last week!

ARGHHHH! I am absoloutely furious!!!!!

I was out at church rehearsing with the choir and band for the harvest service on sunday, and the rehersal had gone really well up until the last piece, and i was in a really good mood.
But then, half way through the last piece, there was this huge crash of glass that came from the lady chapel! Instantly, all the men in the choir, and the two guitarists launched out of the church door and off down the road.
We all went to the lady chapel to see that two of the windows (theres 5 floor length clear windows in a row forming one big one, that shows the picture of Mary holding Jesus, surrounded by patterns), had been smashed, with 2 huge bricks lieing on the glass covered floor! One rock had smashed almost the entire window, and the other had blasted right through the body of Jesus, and sent glass all over the room!

We called the police straight away, and tried to get hold of the local glass company, and the church wardens, and nobody touched the stones incase we could somehow use them to find these complete arses!

Sadly, we didn't catch anyone, but this is probably a good thing, because everyone remembers the time when 5 men and the vicar went chasing after someone who had broken into the church, and these men turned up on sunday with a broken leg, a broken arm, someone on crutches, and the vicar in a sling, after having caught these idiots and got into a fight! Also, everyone was very cross, and the men probably would have been charged for assult!

I am SO angry about this! The windows were only just fixed 6 months ago, and cost over £10,000 to repair! This was payed by the insurance company, but thats not the point! What gets me is that these people do not care, and get away with it easily, and have no respect for God's house! Why do it!?!? Do they not realise how much it's going to cost; how much this will upset the congregation? NO!!!! ARGHHH!

Jacob.

I'm not surprised that you're angry. Vandalism like that is completely out of order, never mind respect for God's house (which non-Christians wouldn't be too bothered about), what about any kind of respect for the property of others?! Or any kind of respect at all?
I agree, it's disgusting.

Sorry to hear this, Jacob. When they repair the window perhaps it would be a good idea to put wire mesh on the outside - spoils the look a bit, but it does stop bricks!

I've never understood why some people get a kick out of spoiling things for others. They must have heard you all singing, and I think they must fully understand that people are going to be upset. I suppose they egged one another on, and I only hope they are individually rather ashamed of their collective ill deed. At least no-one was hurt by the flying glass, which is a blessing.

Don't be so angry that it spoils the harvest for you; that way, they will have won. I think all you can do (given that you can't actually catch them) is to carry on as normally as possible. Sadly, life is full of unnecessary annoyances perpetrated by those who have a strange notion of amusing themselves; it's your response that matters, and I think you should all be determined to enjoy your harvest celebrations regardless.

No, you're right, i wont let them get to me and ruin the service. I agree that some sort of protection should be put up, but it's the cost thats the problem. Maybe i should get around to doing this organ concert everyone is waiting for, to raise funds? I think they're looking into getting plastic windows put infront of the originals, so you can still see the windows, but wont be able to smash them with ease. They also want to look at CCTV cameras being put up in the car park by the lady chapel, and at the front of the church just incase they go for the massive windows at the front.

Jacob.

The organ concert sounds a super idea! It will give you a great incentive to practise too. Go for it!

What an awful thing to've happened. Thoughts and sympathies with you. The concert sounds a terrific idea.

got a busy morning tomorrow...

Just returned from my organ lesson. Very sad day - preparations going on for the funeral of a young man (27) who died last week at work - he was buried in a trench that collapsed. Speakers going up outside the church etc...

^

I'm still in the office... will this week never end?

I am working in West London tomorrow.
I did this once before in July. It was far from pleasant. I'm not good with London at the best of times, having to get across it during rush hour was an absolute nightmare.
The next meeting I had with my boss I basically said I didn't want to do it again, and he said that I would do it again, but we'd work around something on the transport front. Years back, when money was freer here, my old boss would get me driven down there (i.e. chauffeur collected from home, delivered to work, then brought back in the afternoon). Not going to happen now.
I said there was no question of me driving it (I don't do motorways, or busy roads), and that the train was okay-ish if I got a seat and the tube was distressing. But, aha, we realised my boss works there one day a week. So he said I could get a lift with him, if I could drive to his house (which is ~10 miles from home, no problem).

So more recently I gave him the date, asked for a lift, he said fine. Then on Friday I asked if it was still OK for Tuesday, and he was all "Oh, um, this Tuesday, hmm, maybe, perhaps not, oh dear". So I said not to worry, I could get the train if not. He said he'd get back to me on Monday.

And today he has confirmed he is indeed not going over there. So I have to get myself there. I know it'll be fine...I've already spoken to my husband and he is going to give me a lift to the railway station tomorrow morning (that's a 40 minute walk, and it is due to be chucking it down), so all I have to do is train in to London, tube across London, train out of London, bus to site. And all again in reverse on the way home. Though I may sneak out early from working on site, and just get home and carry on working from there, so I don't have to do any evening rush hour. I'll just find a corner I can sit with my book and ignore all the other people around and so on...and I'll say it'll be fine but I won't sleep well tonight and I'll really not enjoy tomorrow...

All this unhappiness and stress (I told my manager he probably shouldn't ask me anything on Wednesday!)...to deliver a one hour training course!!


(I may ponder taking the afternoon off, so I can officially leave early and perhaps even drop in to a shop to buy my husband a birthday pressie...but I may have some work that needs doing before the end of Tuesday so I may have to work the afternoon)

Best of luck, Maizie - I sympathise - public transport in London brings me out in a nasty rash, too...

Just reading about that is making me feel on-edge, Maizie. The very best of luck...

If going across London from station to station is the worst bit is there any chance you could take a cab instead and put it on expenses? That way you'd miss the Tube stress.

Aww, thank you everybody for the kindnesses.

I've just agreed the afternoon off with my boss, though I said that if anything urgent came up on what I was working on, I would just carry on working and cancel the holiday. So that way everybody is happy. Hopefully I will get to leave at lunchtime, and then I can miss the afternoon busy-ness and even more hopefully get my husband's b'day sorted (and at no point take any sort of diversion in to a shop that sells music. No no no no no. Even if I do 'deserve' a 'treat' for battling London!)
And, if I do have to do some last-minute work, it shouldn't take all afternoon to do, so I will still be able to leave some early, i.e. not at 4pm.

And then I got back to my desk (we're in an open plan office) and he had instant messaged me to say that I could be relaxed about what time I arrived in work on Wednesday if I needed some extra time (i.e. a lie in!) and also to thank me very much for going over there and to apologise for his late change of plans, which was very nice of him.

He does always go on Thursdays (the other days he goes are sort of by chance), so I said for 2009 I'd get the training people to arrange it so the training was always on a Thursday - that way, whether I get to do it from my usual place, or if I have to travel, at least I will always have a lift available.

Good news!

good

Am here now, and my training course has already finished. I should get to leave at noon-ish for the full afternoon off as well

Journey was...not pleasant, but nowhere near as bad as last time. I slept reasonably well last night, which is surprising, and I didn't get my first bit of panic until I was on the platform waiting for the first train. It's quite normal for me to be woken several times by panic attacks in the night if there is Something Going On
I think sleeping better, combined with knowing I am officially sneaking out early, made it all a lot easier. A more positive experience to remember for next time.
Oh, that and getting to spend a few minutes in Paddington station, with it's Real And Proper Trains (I live on an electrified line and go in to London to a completely electrified terminus; Paddington has diesels and at least sounds and smells like a railway station should!)

Of course, I'll be totally crashed out by about 3pm

Um, sorry?? Most 'non-Christians', as you put it, don't actually condone vandalism, whether to churches (as they're called by non-Christians) or to any other building or structure.

the frustration of not making contact by phone with a friend who is not very well at the moment - on medication.. and adjusting it. So she's not far away, should I drive over...? hmmm

When I am unwell I'd generally rather not see anyone!

surely MOST PEOPLE are not into vandalism.

well, MOST PEOPLE I know are decent folk - there's always exceptions to rules .... but that seems to be Life!

Woah! There is no way that my post implied that I condoned vandalism to churches, that's a completely ridiculous assumption to make from my post. What I believe I said was that whilst non-Christians wouldn't necessarily see vandalism to a church as any worse than vandalism to any other building, all vandalism is completely out of order. In retrospect making that point was possibly irrelevant, but it shouldn't have been offensive.

Non-Christians "as I put it"? Well what ought I call those who are... umm... not Christian?!

Seems like you are trying to find ways to take offense at my post here.

How exactly do you infer from what I wrote that I thought you condone vandalism to churches????? That is utterly illogical.

You made a statement - not merely an implication - saying that "non-Christians wouldn't be too bothered about" vandalism to churches - which suggests you think non-Christians would condone this. Whilst I accept it was unintentional, it was very badly expressed.

Incidentally, "condone" means to disregard, excuse or turn a blind eye to, which seems to me pretty synonymous with "wouldn't be too bothered about".

Right, well I'm sorry if my post was badly expressed. I can certainly see how you'd come to that conclusion from my post, but I still think that you wouldn't have too far to stretch to give me the benefit of the doubt.

Respect for God's house is a Christian ideal. Respect for any building is not particularly a Christian ideal. Whilst I would respect a church, and would never vandalise it, that would not be because it was God's house, but rather because I simply respected property in general. I meant to imply that all vandalism is reprehensible, to all religions, not simply to those who believe that churches are sacred. To an atheist, a church is not a sacred place. It would not make the slightest bit of difference to me that it was God's house, it would not bother me that it was God's house. That is what I meant. Thus, in this case, condone is not synonymous. Clearly that wasn't as obvious as I meant it to be.

The tone of your post implied that I condoned vandalism, and you've repeated that in your most recent reply, by equating my "not too bothered about" with your "condone".

I don't actually think that there needs to be an argument about this. Perhaps my post wasn't very clear, and you inferred something from it that I didn't intend. I apologise if that offended you. You've offended me by implying that I condone vandalism to churches - perhaps you didn't mean to infer that.

Can we both drop it and get over it now?

Agreed. I think we've both misunderstood and misinterpreted each other's posts...

"to accept and allow [behaviour that is considered morally wrong or offensive] to continue"
"to approve or sanction (something) especially with reluctance"

I have just had someone ask me the same question. For the fourth time. Well, OK, they asked it the first time, and I replied both verbally and in writing (so that counted as twice). Someone else asked me on Monday - that someone was copied in the email to the first person, and I responded in writing to her, copying in all the people she copied in (which included the first person who should have known the answer). And then the first person has asked me again today.

So I have emailed them back. And copied in all the people they copied in, which was rather a lot. And said that as I had been asked (and answered) this question multiple times, I would answer it with as many people copied in so that I didn't get asked it again.

And I explained that their perceived problem wasn't a problem. And they would have known it wasn't a problem if (a) they had read the instructions on how to review what I'd sent them; or (b) they had read either of my two previous written response to the same question.
And I did this all in words of one syllable sort of language.

And they are all going to think I am a stroppy cow, but to be honest, I don't care. This is a very simple thing to get their heads around, which they've already had explained to them, but surprisingly enough it turns out they don't listen to what I say or read what I write.

Fed up with the lot of them.

I think that people believing you're a stroppy cow can, occasionally, be a desirable outcome. It certainly seems to have worked for me.....

is personal posting really allowed here - if you can get away with it "on a friday night when there are no mods about and I will post a whole thread"